“Act Like An Insider” – Or Else

Why a real journalist was booted from MSNBC

So we got Al Sharpton instead

We so rarely get to hear what actually goes on “behind the curtain” of the corporate news media.

Why do intelligent people disappear while clowns get elevated?

Of course, like everything else, the news media is “show business” but there’s more to it than that. To have a show on MSNBS or any other news outlet, you not only have to be entertaining, you also have to be politically correct.

Politically correct according to whose standards? Corporate standards which means you can be a race baiter like Al Sharpton, but don’t be too pointed in your criticisms of who’s in charge.

Why did Johnny Carson, David Letterman and Jay Leno thrive while George Carlin and Bill Hicks were shunted off to the side (Hicks actually had his last routine cut from the Letterman show after taping.)

Cenk Uygur started out as an Internet and talk radio show called the Young Turks which is fantastically popular on its own merits without millions (billions really) of corporate infrastructure.

MCNBS gave him a six month tryout in its prime slot – a slot he more than deserved. But what happened?

In spite of his obvious popularity, MSNBC President Phil Griffin essentially demoted him, offering him a less prominent slot and asking him to “tone it down.”

They wanted his popularity, but not the things that came out of his mouth.

Uygur declined and went back to where he could say what he wanted. A small victory for real news reporting, but in 99.9% of the time, it breaks the other way.